Family creates outreach in memory of daughter

Ginger Rice goes through gift baskets and places gift cards for food and gas into them Wednesday morning. The baskets will be donated to families who have infants in the neonatal intensive care unit at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. Rice is putting the baskets together in memory of the one year anniversary of Kyleigh's death. Kyleigh Rice was born with a rare congenital heart defect and died June 18, 2011, around 6 months old. Her mother, Ginger Rice, started the Every Little Miracle: The Kyleigh Faith Foundation to provide support and gift baskets.

Doug Engle/ Ocala Star-Banner

By Marian RizzoCorrespondent

Published: Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 9:48 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 3:53 p.m.

In Michael and Ginger Rice's Belleview home, a spare bedroom contains an empty baby's crib, unused infant toys and on the wall, shiny butterflies and a message: "Every day holds a possibility of a miracle."

On the floor is a spread of fabric-lined baskets filled with baby products, receiving blankets, gift cards and items for parents.

Having lost their 5-month-old daughter Kyleigh Faith to a rare heart defect June 18, 2011, the Rices decided to turn their tragedy into something good. Tomorrow, Friday, June 29, they will be taking 28 gift-filled baskets to the neonatal intensive care unit at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

The cost for each basket filled with gifts for newborn babies and their families costs about $100. Understanding the risks involved with preemies, the Rices also filled a few baskets with items specially chosen for grieving parents whose child does not survive.

After spending five months in the NICU, Ginger said she can relate to what other parents are going through.

"When I was there I saw lots of needs," she said. "I kept thinking, What can I do to help fulfill all these needs? The baskets aren't going to change anybody's life, but it's just a way for us to say, ‘Hey, we've been there and we care.'"

Born two months early on Jan. 1, 2011, Kyleigh Faith faced several challenges even before she was born. At 30 weeks gestation, she weighed less than one pound, a result of intrauterine growth restriction. According to the National Institutes for Health, that condition increases the risk the baby will die while still in the womb.

March of Dimes statistics show that in the United States more than 1,400 babies (one in eight) are born prematurely for a variety of reasons. Many face weeks or months in intensive care and often suffer complications. Some don't survive.

When Kyleigh was born, the Rices considered her a miracle baby, especially when she cried at birth.

"In November, they gave us a zero percent chance that she would survive if things kept going the way they were," said Ginger. "We went from zero percent to getting 5 1/2 months."

Though Kyleigh's growth rate began to improve, just one week before she died doctors diagnosed her with pulmonary vein stenosis, a very rare condition that restricts the flow of blood between the heart and the lungs. Babies with this condition have a high mortality rate, an American Heart Association journal stated.

Kyleigh spent all but three days of her life in Shands' NICU. She had gone home at the end of May but, within three days, showed signs of respiratory distress and had to be readmitted and intubated. She never came home again.

"Honestly, we knew she wasn't doing well, but Mike and I, nor her primary doctor, had any idea it was going to end the way it did," said Ginger. "It was a shock to everyone. I do remember, as we were walking into the hospital, I breathed a silent prayer, and it was not to save her, it was to do what was best for her."

To help raise funds for other parents of babies in NICU, the Rices created Every Little Miracle: The Kyleigh Faith Foundation. They have applied for 501(C)3 status and are awaiting approval.

The foundation's six-member board of directors includes Gloria James, who retired in July 2010 as community director for the March of Dimes of Marion County. James said she's been following the family's trial since Kyleigh was born.

"They went through such a roller coaster ride being in the hospital, seeing progress and then having steps backwards," said James. "We just ached for them."

James is planning to accompany the family to Shands to deliver the baskets Friday. This project will complement the March of Dimes' gift packs that include resource information and small gifts, she said.

"We're not duplicating those services. We are extending them," she said.

Judy Angley, NICU family support specialist for the March of Dimes, said the Shands unit has 50 beds in two levels of care, and they are nearly full.

Also an associate in pediatrics at the University of Florida, Angley described the lifestyle changes of families who have babies in NICU. Parents put their jobs on hold, travel great distances to the hospital and deplete their savings for gas and lodging. Many parents are torn between being with their baby in NICU and with their other children at home.

"The needs are both emotional and physical," said Angley. "I am so pleased the Rice family has taken something that was so tragic and made it into something that is so positive. These baskets are at least going to address the fact that somebody cares."

If you can help, Every Little Miracle, the Kyleigh Faith Foundation, needs gas and restaurant gift cards, plus baby and parent items for gift baskets.

To donate funds, mail checks payable to Every Little Miracle to P.O. Box 3095, Belleview FL 34421 or use PayPal at www.everylittlemiracle.org.

To donate items or for more information, visit the website or Facebook page or call 641-0380.

<p>In Michael and Ginger Rice's Belleview home, a spare bedroom contains an empty baby's crib, unused infant toys and on the wall, shiny butterflies and a message: "Every day holds a possibility of a miracle."</p><p>On the floor is a spread of fabric-lined baskets filled with baby products, receiving blankets, gift cards and items for parents.</p><p>Having lost their 5-month-old daughter Kyleigh Faith to a rare heart defect June 18, 2011, the Rices decided to turn their tragedy into something good. Tomorrow, Friday, June 29, they will be taking 28 gift-filled baskets to the neonatal intensive care unit at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.</p><p>The cost for each basket filled with gifts for newborn babies and their families costs about $100. Understanding the risks involved with preemies, the Rices also filled a few baskets with items specially chosen for grieving parents whose child does not survive.</p><p>After spending five months in the NICU, Ginger said she can relate to what other parents are going through.</p><p>"When I was there I saw lots of needs," she said. "I kept thinking, What can I do to help fulfill all these needs? The baskets aren't going to change anybody's life, but it's just a way for us to say, 'Hey, we've been there and we care.'"</p><p>Born two months early on Jan. 1, 2011, Kyleigh Faith faced several challenges even before she was born. At 30 weeks gestation, she weighed less than one pound, a result of intrauterine growth restriction. According to the National Institutes for Health, that condition increases the risk the baby will die while still in the womb.</p><p>March of Dimes statistics show that in the United States more than 1,400 babies (one in eight) are born prematurely for a variety of reasons. Many face weeks or months in intensive care and often suffer complications. Some don't survive.</p><p>When Kyleigh was born, the Rices considered her a miracle baby, especially when she cried at birth.</p><p>"In November, they gave us a zero percent chance that she would survive if things kept going the way they were," said Ginger. "We went from zero percent to getting 5 1/2 months."</p><p>Though Kyleigh's growth rate began to improve, just one week before she died doctors diagnosed her with pulmonary vein stenosis, a very rare condition that restricts the flow of blood between the heart and the lungs. Babies with this condition have a high mortality rate, an American Heart Association journal stated.</p><p>Kyleigh spent all but three days of her life in Shands' NICU. She had gone home at the end of May but, within three days, showed signs of respiratory distress and had to be readmitted and intubated. She never came home again.</p><p>"Honestly, we knew she wasn't doing well, but Mike and I, nor her primary doctor, had any idea it was going to end the way it did," said Ginger. "It was a shock to everyone. I do remember, as we were walking into the hospital, I breathed a silent prayer, and it was not to save her, it was to do what was best for her."</p><p>To help raise funds for other parents of babies in NICU, the Rices created Every Little Miracle: The Kyleigh Faith Foundation. They have applied for 501(C)3 status and are awaiting approval.</p><p>The foundation's six-member board of directors includes Gloria James, who retired in July 2010 as community director for the March of Dimes of Marion County. James said she's been following the family's trial since Kyleigh was born.</p><p>"They went through such a roller coaster ride being in the hospital, seeing progress and then having steps backwards," said James. "We just ached for them."</p><p>James is planning to accompany the family to Shands to deliver the baskets Friday. This project will complement the March of Dimes' gift packs that include resource information and small gifts, she said.</p><p>"We're not duplicating those services. We are extending them," she said.</p><p>Judy Angley, NICU family support specialist for the March of Dimes, said the Shands unit has 50 beds in two levels of care, and they are nearly full.</p><p>Also an associate in pediatrics at the University of Florida, Angley described the lifestyle changes of families who have babies in NICU. Parents put their jobs on hold, travel great distances to the hospital and deplete their savings for gas and lodging. Many parents are torn between being with their baby in NICU and with their other children at home.</p><p>"The needs are both emotional and physical," said Angley. "I am so pleased the Rice family has taken something that was so tragic and made it into something that is so positive. These baskets are at least going to address the fact that somebody cares."</p><p>If you can help, Every Little Miracle, the Kyleigh Faith Foundation, needs gas and restaurant gift cards, plus baby and parent items for gift baskets.</p><p>To donate funds, mail checks payable to Every Little Miracle to P.O. Box 3095, Belleview FL 34421 or use PayPal at www.everylittlemiracle.org.</p><p>To donate items or for more information, visit the website or Facebook page or call 641-0380.</p>